Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

This month in 2021, Merriam-Webster announced that one of the 455 words it was adding to its dictionary was fluffernutter, a sweet and gooey sandwich that's won over New Englanders for something like a century. Plus: Dopamine Shop is an online store with all the fun of shopping, except that you can't order anything or spend any money.

Fluffernutter is added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary (WBUR)

Dopamine Shop

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Some big and tasty news out of the Tiangong space station, where astronauts from China have been taking rice growing in space to a new level. Plus: all month long in Virginia City, Nevada, it’s Hauntober.

China’s space rice experiment could help astronauts grow their own food (Interesting Engineering)

Hauntober  

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Today in 1952 a French scientist, Alain Bombard, began a trip across the Atlantic Ocean. It was about as grueling an ocean voyage as a person can take… though that was the point. Plus: a warning sign about beavers in Poland gets taken down by the beavers.

Alain Bombard (The Sunday Times via Archive.org) 

Beavers destroy sign warning about beavers (Notes From Poland)

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It’s National Dictionary Day, so we’re going to dig through some of the most underappreciated words in the English language. Plus: tomorrow in South Korea, the annual Space-Out Competition.

56 Delightfully Unusual Words for Everyday Things (Mental Floss)

Words that deserve wider use (Wayne State University - Word Warriors)

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 1 (Merriam-Webster)

Space Out Competition 

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Today in 1786, the birthday of James Holman, who became world famous in his time for traveling all over the world, mostly solo and completely blind. Plus: this weekend in the community of Uptown Shelby, it's the North Carolina Liver Mush Festival. 

James Holman, The Blind Traveler (Amusing Planet)

North Carolina Liver Mush Festival 

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Every so often we get a sound from long ago that makes its way back out of obscurity. Recently the Library of Congress announced a new/old recording of one of the most famous aviators of all time. Plus: this Saturday in Minnesota, it’s the Winona Zombie Crawl.

Voice from aviation history (Library of Congress)

Winona Zombie Crawl 

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Today in 1841, an area of Michigan officially established itself as Hell. People there love to play up the name today, but it’s not so clear that those who named Hell were trying to connect themselves with the Bad Place. Plus: this weekend in Banner Elk, North Carolina, it’s the Woolly Worm Festival. 

History of Hell (Hell, Michigan)

Wooly Worm Festival 

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Today in 1977, the opening of Citicorp Center in New York City. There are lots of skyscrapers in Manhattan, but only one has a story like this, in which crews had to quickly and quietly carry out some upgrades so that the 59 story building wasn't in danger of collapse. Plus: starting this Friday in Miami, Florida, it’s the Redland International Orchid Festival.

This New York skyscraper had a 1-in-16 chance of collapse. Only one man knew (CNN)

Redland International Orchid Festival (Greater Miami/Miami Beach)

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We're replaying shows about some of the books we loved as kids. In this episode from March 2022, a bit of misfortune for writer Astrid Lindgren helped her come up with the inspiration for a character who would win fans all over the world. Plus: an ultramarathon runner set a world record by running 301 miles over nearly 80 hours (!)

Astrid Lindgren, Swedish Writer of Pippi Longstocking Tales, Dies at 94 (New York Times)

Tucsonan Reed sets world record with 300-mile run (Tucson.com)

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We're replaying shows about some of the books we loved as kids. In this episode from February 2023, the story of a team of authors who made their books into interactive games, to the delight of millions of young readers. Plus: Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry named one of the series' most famous characters after a guy he’d met during World War II.

The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books (The New Yorker)

The Name’s Familiar Mr. Leotard, Barbie, and Chef Boyardee (via Google Books)

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